Articoli taggati con ‘cultural economics’

“To the Congregation of the Oratory in Naples 250 ducati and for you, Dionisio Lazzari, at completion 1000 ducati as this much you have spent for marbles, mother of pearl, precious stones and more and in labor to build the steps with the pedestals for the High Altar of the church. 9 September 1654”
This is the transcript of an old credit certificate (Bancale) and its reason of payment, one of the documents preserved in one of the biggest archived collection of bank items that exists in the world and that dates back to 1573 up to our days, it is held in the Historical Archive of the Banco di Napoli [1].
For many years this Archive has been frequented by archivists, students and researchers of economic and financial history, a magical place however, difficult to access, example of a lack of knowledge that characterizes the urban experience of Naples. An inaccessible place, just like madhouses, prisons and factories during modern times, finally retired and refurbished, with the construction of common use goods.
At 9:30 am of 10 June 2017, a group of people equipped with smartphones gathered outside the Historical Archive of the Banco di Napoli to participate in the first digital Treasure Hunt of the Bank.

The ongoing debate on the social value of art and culture has been with us for some decades now. In the United States, this debate has taken place mostly within the art world itself, and in related political and administrative circles. In the mainstream, writes economist Marilyn Warring, any economic movement has always been towards the “market.”
That is, there continues to be the assumption that the only way in which work can be visible or valuable, is if you treat is as if it were a market commodity, or a market service you attribute value to. This underlying need to pass goods through the GDP makes the intangible performance art even more challenging to quantify.
What is striking about the current debate is how the underlying assumption, that the added value of public expenditures on art and culture, is negative. For many, government support for the arts and culture is not considered a valuable investment for either economic or cultural development; rather, it is perceived as a leak in the economy.
Any empirical evidence of a positive spin-off for culture or the economy is simply neglected. Perhaps one of the reasons why this assumption has remained unchallenged, is in fact rooted in attitudes within the art world itself: proponents of creative and artistic endeavors are reluctant to embrace the argument fully, since the dominant discourse is still based on an antagonistic relationship between culture and economy.
Therefore there is an urgent need to open up the debate, in order to better understand the contemporary dynamics within the arts, the creative industries, and cultural policy.
As arts funding is at risk of shrinking from federal granting agencies, the question of arts valuation extends to two very differing camps regarding metrics: quantify so that value can be assigned and worth can be determined, this is a viable way of assessing funding opportunities. This approach believes in the quest for an infallible metric system, and while we might not be there yet, the holy grail does exist. And the latter, intrinsic value is both indefinable and ultimately damning.

In a country where cultural participation generates alarming negative numbers (in 2015, 68.3% of the Italian population has never entered a museum [1] ), it becomes crucial to understand the new public and study suitable strategies for a cultural proposal able to better reflect their interests. Indeed, although this percentage is on the rise compared to the trend of recent years, there is a kind of cultural impoverishment, which concerns not only the museum, but also publishing, theater, music and dance. The 88.3% of the total population of our country in 2015 has never attended a classical music concert, 78.8% have never seen a play, 51.9% have never read a newspaper, 56.5% has never opened a single book [2].
It has often been attempted to reduce analysis of public museum culture to a series of data, more or less accurate, more or less exemplary, rather than to a basic theory that you intend to demonstrate and posit as a significant idea and a related cultural marketing strategy. It will be to demonstrate, id est, with the data, the validity of an idea, sometimes deforming the correct reading and interpretation. What is sometimes forgotten is the exact opposite: the need to gather facts on a phenomenon under investigation, and then let the data talk, so that a sense can be drawn from their links and their possible interrelationships.
In his “L’analyse des données”, Jean- Paul Benzecri, founder of a scientific discipline related to data analysis, wrote: «The model must follow the data, not vice versa [3] ». It is then the daunting task for the researcher to find a connection, if any, between numbers which may be sometimes discordant or present apparently low affinity.

In a fragile political and economic framework, the attention to the role that culture can play in creating the bass for the future of Europe is growing rapidly. This paper investigates the impacts that culture create in several aspects of our lives: from the social cohesion to the economic development, from the mechanisms through which culture shapes our cities to the awareness of the sense of our lives resulting from knowledge. Finally, in this paper we would like to point out the links that relate culture, economic development and intangible assets such as feeling of identity and trust.
The paper compare the evidence emerging from a recent paper commissioned by the European Economic and Social Committee with the insights provided by several literature reviews and the results of specific projects dealing with culture and social dynamics.
In the first chapter, we present the study, comparing several ways to look at the phenomena involved in the process of trust building; in chapter 2 we will underline the relevance of intangible assets such as social cohesion, in Chapter 3 we will analyze, more in detail the necessity of a sustainable economic growth. Our conclusions will show how cultural interventions within the city territory can foster social inclusion, cohesion, and trust.

Since the 90’s, the world looks astonished at the power of culture as a strategical tool for the development of entire economies and territories. However, in last years, culture, and better said, cultural economics in Italy (but not only in Italy) is really changed.
It’s clearly visible: look at the symposium, look in the universities. The great giants of this discipline are fading away, great entrepreneurial groups are changing their focus. Even the group I represent changed its primary market from a consulting to an advisory business model, in order to match the new set of needs that this market is now showing.
Nowadays, cultural economics is a more mature market and there is a need for new and specialized skills: be able in designing cultural projects is no longer enough, now, who’s in charge in providing services in this cluster have to be able in funding projects too, or made them sustainable in the short period.
This is the evidence that shows how We’re experiencing a great switch of the market. This kind of changes happens when a sector shifts from an emerging stage to a consolidating phase.

Is not possible to start a discussion about culture without mentioning what in these days is scaring Europe: the IS terrorist attack in the heart of Paris is nothing but a menace to all of us. But there is also another reflection that we, as researchers and practitioners of culture, must underline in this act, and is that the choice of the sites point the attention on the very heart of our lifestyle: culture.
Since its beginnings IS has attacked with peculiar attention cultural sites: firstly site under the protection of the UNESCO, and then irreverent voices of European Culture (Charlie Hebdo). Now the attack has been addressed versus a theatre, a stadium and versus people who was spending their time in cafès.
This should make us consider once more the importance of culture in our lives. The nature of the attack followed the evolution of what has been for centuries intended with the word Culture: first the heritage, then the literature and freedom of expression and ultimately (this is our hope) the music and the sports.
I’m not a conflict expert, but to every observer should be clear that IS is fighting its war mainly on two dimensions: the fear and the symbol. Destroying cultural heritage sites has been for century one of the main abused symbols of war, but stadiums, theatres and boulevards are something new.
In my opinion it is not only a security level topic, there is something more. There is the importance of our immaterial infrastructure, the knowledge on which we base our lifestyle.
Everyone would be pleased to do anything in order to avoid any other attacks.

This paper aims to underline the need for a “metropolitan governance” in Italy with particular emphasis on the central area of Veneto region. Following on from a recent work by the authors Corò e Dalla Torre (2015) the “metropolitan issue” is analysed on two different levels: the first level of analysis examines the area’s need for metropolitan governance to increase competitiveness with benefits for workers, companies and citizens. The second level of analysis outlines topics which should be taken into consideration by an agenda for metropolitan governance.
1. Introduction: the difficulties of enacting a metropolitan reform
The metropolitan issue is not a new concept in Italy. It has been hotly debated since the 1960s; indeed, the government has proposed laws but all have been systematically neglected. Yet, it is not an insignificant matter: the metropolitan issue is a phenomenon perceived both at academic and administrative level, and above all it is experienced first-hand by workers, entrepreneurs, students and consumers. It is witnessed on a daily basis within an area defined by the network of relationships which go beyond municipalities and regional boundaries.
If the existence of a metropolitan area is a real phenomenon, the implementation of its organisation – at least in Italy – is not rational. The need for metropolitan governance has arisen from the awareness of an increasing inefficiency as a result of the misalignment between the expansion of physical and socio-economic structures on one hand with the expansion of political and institutional structures on the other. This disharmony increases the cost of living for citizens and companies by snatching precious resources allocated to investments and expenditures.
Despite this endless debate, there has always been a conspicuous lack of any actual attempt to implement metropolitan governance. Among the causes of this absence of attempts is the lack of political willingness to change the Italian institutional structure, which involves not only the metropolitan cities but also the wider phenomenon of fragmentation affecting the municipalities in these regions.

Just at this moment, somehow or other, Alice and the red Queen began to run. They were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen kept crying ‘Faster! Faster!’ but Alice felt she could not go faster, though she had not breath left to say so. The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. “I wonder if all the things move along with us?” thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried, “Faster! Don’t try to talk!” And they went so fast that at last they seemed to skim through the air, hardly touching the ground with their feet, till suddenly, just as Alice was getting quite exhausted, they stopped, and she found herself sitting on the ground, breathless and giddy.
Alice looked round her in great surprise.
– Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! Everything’s just as it was!
– Of course it is,’ said the Queen, ‘what would you have it?
– Well, in our country, said Alice, still panting a little, you’d generally get to somewhere else—if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.
– A slow sort of country! said the Queen. Now, Here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

Corporate museums arise today as a powerful identity medium for companies and brands representing Made in Italy worldwide. At the beginning of the new millennium, such cultural centers, preserving and communicating the Italian economic history, are extending their presence in most of the country and market sectors. They define a very fragmentary universe (indeed, a still largely underground “dorsal” of Made in Italy culture), but also an investment which could support the cultivation of innovative quality relationships among companies, territory, and society.
From this scenario, the paper aims to offer a synthetic overview of the phenomenon concerning company museums and its contemporary evolution within the Italian context, where it appears to be unique for both dimensions and its qualitative features if compared with the international scenario. Indeed, this means also to reflect about the special affinity which seems to exist between museum format and the essence of Made in Italy culture, rising nowadays internationally as a strategic communication discourse.

In the last 20 years Turin has gone through several radical transformations and changes. When we talk about that we can’t forget its passage from “industrial town” to “post-industrial town”, breaking away from its past.
From automotive to baby-parking and from heavy metallurgic plants to organic and “from farm to fork” food-stores. But that’s not all.
Empty spaces, left by a decaying industry fabric, have inspired requalification initiatives and a social, educative, cultural enterprise everywhere in the city.
In this context stems the need for re-appropriating and re-dwelling, through the involvement of the whole town community So, those ready to fill, empty spaces themselves become, in a perspective of recycling and re-use, the perfect container for inclusion, increased participation and for offering possibilities, events and moments of social aggregation.
Here was the most fertile “humus” to create new special structures: the Case del Quartiere (Houses of Neighbourhood). Common spaces, multipurpose cultural hubs, social laboratory – all at the same times. In an House it is possible to propose events, to organize or attend a workshop or an artistic atelier, to discuss about common themes or simply use services provided. They are friendly places, where a person is not only a guest, or a resident, but above all is a citizen.

People’s happiness and wellbeing are undoubtedly at the center of today’s modern life – we could even dare to say that our generation is obsessed with the pursuit of happiness, with finding the perfect balance between our inner desires and the lives that we actually live.
Nevertheless, we know very little about what truly makes a human being happy. We read tons of self-help books, we go to courses, and we talk to counselors. But the truth is – we very rarely dig deeper into the scientific causes behind human happiness and wellbeing. We may even be surprised to know that, in fact, there are very solid scientific causes. And among those causes, culture lists as one of the main ones.
In order to better understand this, we need first to define what we mean by wellbeing and by culture.

The point of view of the author is to consider how libraries are perceived by national communities, on the background of the economic crisis of the latest year and the internet and social media penetration, in order to point out the gap between scientific analysis and general perception. There are several methods to […]

Introduction The topic of the importance of being able to measure the impact (or better yet, the plural impacts) that cultural heritages and activities have on many different areas is one of the most discussed issues in Contemporary Economic literature. There are many reasons explaining such an interest: first of all it is […]

“What do we mean by cultural heritage?” Is it the classical definition of “culture” relating to a purely material dimension still relevant, legitimizing the protection of “cultural heritage” as opposed to protection and enhancement? Is it perhaps time to reconsider the scope of this concept in a new way based on a systems […]

The financial crisis of 2008 and other changes in the economy and culture have had a pervading impact on the creative sector more than on any other field. Using an original style, which combines autobiographical elements with a deep knowledge of the present and past music and culture panorama, Scott Timberg allows us to explore the suffering status of the creative class, which he belongs to.

Cultural intelligence is defined as “a person’s capability for successful adaptation to new cultural settings, including cognitive, motivational and behavioral aspects”. This paper investigates how the adaptation processes recognized and studied in individuals can be applied to cultural and creative organizations. The aim is to discover which aspects of cultural intelligence are really relevant through detailed case studies of processes and their results. Two illustrative cases were chosen: the role of creative cities and the new music industry.

In the digital age, why should we care about human interaction? The answer is neither simple nor obvious. The rise of new technologies has generated a flourishing debate about the pros and cons of a wide usage of the Internet, transforming the Web in the angels and demons’ epic battle of the 21st century. Today’s relevant role played by the Internet contributes to consider it a fundamental infrastructure of the economy, in the same way as water, electricity and mobility. The recent decision of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve strict new rules to govern broadband internet like a public utility, leaves a mark in the fight for the protection of net neutrality – i.e. the concept that all information and services should have equal access to the Internet. The huge amount of information that circulates across the online world has several implications in terms of economic activities, social challenges and cultural opportunities. Such a wide range of applications makes it difficult to identify a reliable measure of the size of the Internet economy.

This book represents a very interesting collection of reports about the state of the art of the Cultural and Creative Industries in People’s Republic of China. Globally, in spite of the growing importance it plays in the national economy, the cluster of CCIs still faces high difficulties to reach a widespread awareness of its relevance and potentiality.

We grow up being used to the idea that poetry is something boring. This scenario is luckily changing. There are a lot of poets who want to stay inside the modernity, want to write about it and above all they stare at the eyes of their audience, take their hands, fascinate their ears.

This paper provides an insight on the profiles of 400 creative businesses in London and the impact that a tailored, ERDF-funded business support programme had on their business performance and their confidence. It aims to provide a reflexion on the barriers to growth faced by these businesses in the Craft, Design, Photography and Visual Arts sectors. Finally, it will share the impact achieved by the programme after 18 months of delivery, assessing whether the need for the support and the value for money remain as proposed originally. The findings will be of interest to professionals and students in the creative industries sector, as well as to those interested in the impact of European Funded programmes in this sector.

It may sound obvious: in order for creative products to conquer markets we need creativity; business creativity. In the last decade debates and books about creativity were multiplied, in the attempt at answering to crucial questions ranging from the definition of creativity to the identification of creative activities, from the measurement of the impact of creativity upon local economies to the needed design of public action in support of creative artists and organisations. In such a way, although a varied and lively discussion is always healthy, ‘creativity’ was added to ‘art’ and ‘culture’ as iconic labels generously including an extremely wide and heterogeneous realm of objects, actions and exchanges. Neither right nor wrong, it seems to be the clear symptom of an urgency reflecting the attention (and the obsession) for taxonomies and hierarchies needed in the serial economy. The arts and culture, and quite recently creativity, have been absorbed in a simple and rigid view whose map is a grid of models.

Edited by Natasha Degen, “The Market. Documents of Contemporary Art” is an interesting anthology, which offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the evolution of the contemporary art market, its relation to value and its effect on artistic practice, taking into account different perspectives.

This article discusses some thought-provoking papers, presented at the ICCPR2014, on the relationship between cultural policy and globalization. On the one hand, it looks at how globalization has an impact on national cultural policies with reference in particular to tax incentives for private donations and mobility schemes for artists. On the other hands, it tackles the role of cultural policy in international development, questioning the motives and methodologies applied. Finally, it opens up a space for reflection on the role of cultural policy in countries involved in the Arab Spring and which are now in the middle of establishing new sovereign nations and need to define also the role of culture in society.

In an age of insecurity and inequality, the capacity of culture to generate positive impacts seems to be a certainty. Over the past years, an increasing number of studies have analysed the cultural and creative industries’ realm with the aim to demonstrate that cultural projects are good investments not only in terms of social benefits but also in terms of economic and financial returns. Given the relevance of culture to people and places, an interesting report – released in July 2014 – presents an original perspective about the measurable economic effects of sport and culture on local economies. This study carried out a systematic review of over 550 policy evaluations of major sporting and cultural events and facilities, from the UK and other OECD countries. Promoted by the “What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth (WWG), which is a collaboration between the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Centre for Cities and Arup, the study intends to help politicians and institutions “to have more informed debates and to improve policy making”.

More than 30 authors in 17 countries are the “pioneering minds”, who lead readers to the exploration of the “Entrepreneurial Principles of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs)”. Even if CCIs play a key role in the European and global economy, cultural entrepreneurship is still a new knowledge domain.

Ravenna, with its rich cultural and artistic heritage, its economic and social fabric as well as the political will to invest in culture, has the potential to design its future with the support of art and culture and contribute to the development of a model of creative territory for medium-size cities. Ravenna has commissioned a policy paper with a view to reflect on how to capitalise on the ECoC bid for the future of the city. This is in line with the European Capital of Culture’s bidding process which requires cities to show the sustainability of the cultural investment in term of economic and social development. For the European Commission, the year’s cultural investment should bring long term benefits to the city and the surrounding region, including the development of a vibrant culture and creative sector. This paper will illustrate how CCIs can concretely contribute to local development in Ravenna, what are Ravenna’s strengths and challenges to become a creative city and finally proposes some recommendations for Ravenna to unleash CCIs’ potential to set a dynamic and attractive environment.

Culture and territory. A pair with an ancient but actual flair. A binomial that a growing number of public managers choose as the asset to economic development and to increase the quality of life, like in Qatar, where culture has peeped out with a certain delay on the desks of the European Union. At first excluded from EU subjects and focuses, culture has been recognized only at the beginning of the 90s as a subsidiary competence, while on the contrary, it would have been the essence of the integration in the European project. As Jean Monnet, one of the fathers and founders of Europe stated, “If Europe has to be rebuilt, maybe we should start from culture”. The absence of a real and shared cultural project should have been inserted in the process of economic integration to reinforce the EU directives. From a different perspective, it is to say that the absence of an economic structure, deprived of its cultural infrastructure, is visible in the diffused phenomena of dissatisfaction towards the European institutions, in the many misunderstandings and in the race amongst member states.

It is not easy to establish the admission price to museums and monuments. Different cultures suggest singular methods at this matter. Although the global scenario tends to allocate to goods a specific price which is directly commensurate to its value, both dimensional and qualitative, this concept is inapplicable in the economy of culture. This subject takes care of assets of immeasurable value, which represent a heritage of humanity. However, people do not think that this patrimony could in some way generate a profit. Cultural institutions stand as the richest and poorest at the same time. In fact is clearly evident the deep gap they have between the value of their heritage and their disposal money. The majority of the countries charges visitors with a fixed entrance fee, but the price of the ticket is just a lump sum.

Whenever I think, speak or write about the arts the crucial knot of my analysis is knowledge. Of course emotion is important, as well as some intellectual pride, but knowledge gives the flavour to the whole system. It is well rooted in the dramatic urgency that leads single creative artists to craft their works: if they were able to display their sentiments and views in an ordinary way – through plain spoken language, for example – they would not need any kind of expressive substitution, and their discourse should not need to rely upon powerful semantic channels able to convey it to its potential (even not desired) recipients. Knowledge is also important in the growth of creative tendencies, artistic and cultural groups, and all the social clusters advocating the rise and the consolidation of views, styles, techniques and all the methodological tools that can define creative waves. This normally occurs as a response to an insufficient conventional knowledge, in any case to push the threshold of language ahead. Whether it is only innovation (along the path) or revolution (against the path itself) its language wants to show, not without some surprise or even some repugnance, that the world needs new words, new concepts, possibly new truths.

The book offers a complete picture of the art market and the growing connection between art and money, becoming an indispensable reading for all students, academics, professional players and passionate who want to know how the art market works.

Contemporary art fairs are commercial exhibitions where art dealers meet up over the course of several days at a specific event. Nowadays they are held around the world, offering attendees the opportunity to experience in just a few days what otherwise would only be possible by travelling all over the world. This study has selected some key aspects of the contemporary art fairs expansion, focusing on their historical background and on contemporary globalization aspects of the art system. While exploring the art fairs territory, the contemporary art system often finds common grounds with attitudes observed in more-encompassing cultural and creative industries. Art fairs, as many other cultural industry events, such as music and cinema festivals or fashion weeks, share the “show – spectacle” notion in the public culture. Within this context, some analogies can be made as regards the common networking necessities of these industries, but it is also worth highlighting the emergence of art fairs effectiveness in enhancing the contemporary arts and the consumption of creative products.

In recent years slogans such as ‘festival city’ or ‘city of festivals’ have become common elements of the brand image of many cities. But why have events become so popular? What are the benefits of being ‘eventful’? What is the relationship between city development and cultural events? How do cities create, shape, manage and market events, and how can those events in turn shape the city, its spaces and its image? The creation and promotion of events such as festivals, shows, exhibitions, fairs and championships, have become a critical component of urban development strategy across the globe. No city believes it is too small or too complex to enter the market of planning and producing events, which have become central to processes of urban development and revitalisation, as cultural production becomes a major element of the urban economy. By adding an intangible component to the physical culture of the city, events provide a scenario in which human contacts are possible, however superficial, and there is the promise of communitas through the shared experience of ‘being there’.

SAM – Strategic Arts Management Master Class and Tafter Journal launch a call for papers on culture between site-specific creativity and international markets. Get involved! You’ll have the possibility to get 100% off of the SAM registration fee!

Pointing out similarities and differences that exist between art and other kinds of assets, Melanie Gerlis – the Art Market editor of The Art Newspaper – try to figure out an answer to the question whether art is a good investment or not.

“It might be easy for you, but you cannot imagine how difficult is for us to enter outside”. Few years ago, walking in the yards of Santa Maria Della Pietà, psychiatric hospital already closed, Thomas Lovanio, Franco Basaglia’s colleague, got these words from one of the guest of the hospital. He was referring to the difficulty of coming back into the city, a city that years ago had jailed and forgotten him. But now, just because someone have decided to close the psychiatric hospitals, this city has to absorb him again. The articles in this issue reminded me those words. How difficult is for our artistic and cultural system to shape open and innovative relations with the environment and the urban space, and to generate an innovative and transparent management. These difficulties are surely a limit to innovation and an obstacle to the cultural growth of our country. Urban studies have long observed that the most innovative systems are those capable of hybridizing different worlds.

Talking about culture production, we need to shift The importance of being Earnest in The importance of being evaluated. The longing of evaluation it is in fact, by now, intrinsic to any cultural project: sponsors, stakeholders, project managers are all aware of that; however, while the crucial relevance of evaluating is no more called into question, there are still many doubts concerning how an evaluation should be planned and fulfilled. The aim of this article is to give some simple, but practical and solid, guidelines to conceive a worthy analysis of cultural projects, of any kind.

Within the rich and complex vocabulary of culture the word value is certainly overused. It is always associated with culture, however we prefer to define it (which is already a challenging task). Even those who hate culture, since they fear it, say that it has no value. Even when conventional metaphors are adopted, describing the cultural galaxy with examples from the food system (it feeds, it must be preserved, it decays, it may lead to greedy action, etc.), the perception of its value is crucial. If we just observe the meaning that the debate gives to the concept of value as applied to culture we may find a few interesting views, often conventionally shared and accepted, able to reveal the eternal struggle between opposite factions: those who believe that culture is a ritual and hermetic realm where only the initiated have the right to speak (and to act), versus those who consider culture as normal as any other product, being therefore subject to simple economic norms and mechanisms. Exploring this controversial map, where culture is pulled and stretched to endorse much wider and visceral views, we discover that culture appears powerful in providing individuals (and sometimes communities) with some ethical strength.

Today, children are a main target for many cultural institutions. There is no museum that does not devote space and activities for children and, more recently, also concert halls, orchestras and opera houses have opened their doors to the young public and to families.The paper intends to explore how cultural policies are dealing with young citizens and attempts to trace an overview of cultural policies and tools in Europe targeting children.

In a time of austerity, audience development represents a fundamental aspect which should be taken into account. In the traditional business sectors, the demand side has always played a key role in order to predict and satisfy a huge range of needs – sometimes real, but more often market-oriented. On the contrary, in the Italian cultural realm we are witnessing a growing gap between the supply of products and services and the demand side. An excessive self-referential cultural system, together with a low attention to cultural audience’s requests and desirers, are at the same time cause and effect of a static perception of cultural phenomena. As Lyn Gardner noted in a recent Guardian blog, cultural organisations are afraid of asking people what they really want, transforming the relationship with the audience into a boring marriage of convenience. In this respect, if cultural institutions will continue perceiving themselves as locked places specifically dedicated to the upper classes of society, they will be doomed to forget their primary functions such as education and research.

Tafter Journal and LOOP Studies/University of Barcelona invite paper submissions which offer new and challenging research on trends within the management of cultural festivals. Get Involved! We welcome participants willing to share their research and experiences!

The paper aims to show how and why network analysis turns to be a precious and complementary tool to evaluate cultural projects for local development. After reviewing the traditional project evaluation techniques, we first discuss how network analysis is able to map a series of aspects characterizing a cultural project and, especially, its sustainability. Second, we show the potentiality of this methodology by applying it to one of the 18 United Nations Joint Programmes in the area “Culture and Development”, implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Forum d’Avignon is a think-tank dedicated to culture and creative industries which organizes an international annual meeting on culture, economics and media in Avignon, France since 2008. More than 450 participants of different sectors arrive from 40 nations. Guaranteeing a great diversity of opinions, this sixth edition focused on “culture” and “power” and 10 roundtables on the topic were held at Palais des Papas and University of Avignon on November 21 – 23, 2013. This article introduces the general outline, uniqueness and the way of discussion on cultural policy and management at the assembly.

Many things are occurring, quite often in the shadow, out of the places and groups where conventions are crafted and consolidated. The only possible reaction to changes and threats is action, not certainly discussion. Action requires thought and interpretation. But simply waiting for someone else’s action is wrong. Things will be never again as they used to be. A galaxy is in danger if it rejects evolution. Do we want to simply survive? It is time to examine the state of health of what we define culture, a complex set of objects, places, experiences and intuitions whose expansion and variety reject the conventional framework and require new views, effective tools, consistent approaches and versatile action. As in a war report, we can draft a list of the losses. Culture used to be based upon simple, powerful concepts and beliefs that are fading away. Culture, as we know it, was invented within the manufacturing economy: the enjoyment of the arts, an exercise old as humanity, has been standardised as the object of social and economic exchange. It has been special, almost ineffable, physically isolated and accessible only to the initiated. Now the pillars of that wisdom become progressively weaker.